Autograph letter signed by J. M. Synge to Hugh Lane

Autograph letter signed by J. M. Synge to Hugh Lane

December 29, 1907

Sir Hugh Lane, nephew of Lady Gregory, was a dynamic and pioneering figure in the art scene in London and Dublin of the early 1900s, becoming one of the most prominent collectors and dealers of French Impressionist paintings of his day. Determined to bring contemporary art to Ireland, he opened the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art in Dublin in early 1908, the world’s first public gallery devoted to modern art, which Synge describes visiting in this letter. Lane proposed a permanent building for the collection, to be operated by the Dublin city government.

Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations